22 comments:

I don't think the second one looks/sounds all that bad, but the first one was actually painful to watch, with all the nose movement going on while breathing it looked really exhausting and as if it was causing the dog a lot of effort. Do you know whether Shar Peis always have this problem or just as puppies and then literally grow out of it? Because, as far as I know, Shar Peis get born with too much skin and then grow into it, so the fold above its nose should disappear and a grown-up Shar Pei's nose should look like this: http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img341/4444/dsc1363l.jpg (Though I have seen some who looked differently, with a "bigger" nose and more wrinkles, but there is always a gap between how a breed should be, and what breeders actually make out of it with over-characterization.) and this doesn't look too bad to me?

Oh poor things, that last one looks like it has closed nares too. A quick look on the internet and you will see many do have stenotic nares there's one with hideous captions "doesn't he look cuddly and comfy" the puppy's face is squeeshed onto a heap the other one has no opening in its nares at all.

http://www.acuteaday.com/blog/tag/shar-pei-sleeping/

Sad to think there are dogs in there somewhere trying desperately to live a normal life.

Its incredible how many people think these dogs are extraordinarily lovely with half their face hanging off their skull.

How can the owners just watch their pups struggle to breathe and do nothing about it...?If it were a baby labrador breathing like that, it'd be rushed to the nearest vet, but since it's a sharpei it's "normal"! NON-SENSE.

A dog is a dog, and a dog MUST be able to breathe normally to have a normal life.

They just don't know something isn't right. And if we know, we should tell them. Remember? After the PDE aired, more people realized the need to treat BAOS (Brachiocephalic Airway Obstruction Syndrome).

I had to listen to an owner waiting for her dog in a grooming parlour laughing that the god awful gasping noise was her pug in the other room. She seemed quite proud that her dog made that noise ALL the time. Then brushing off the groomers mentions of ear infections and raw folds as just a normal pug thing. I was disgusted to find out he was offered for stud , though i imagine if they had any takers who would have died

Apparently, to these people, a shar-pei is not a dog, it is a shar-pei.

If we establish rules in showing, basic rules such as...* Every dog should be able to move freely without discomfort* Every dog should be able to breathe freely and normally* Every dog should have clean, clear eyes without loose eyelids* Every dog should have healthy skin (not like the dripping wrinkles with cakes of hardened skin that you see on some of the worst)

...then the show people of these breeds say, "But it's not a dog, it's a bulldog!" "It's not a dog, it's a pug!" "It's not a dog, it's a basset hound!" (That last one was actually on a video here from a few years ago, in a protest against the new show rules.)

There is some really weird psychology going on when they can delude themselves so much that if a labrador, collie, whippet or wolf was snoring and gasping loudly, something is obviously wrong, but if a bulldog or pug does it... well it's normal, because they are simply supposed to be like that."It's in the breed standard! If we judge them as dogs, what's the point of having a breed standard?" (That was also from said video, not a direct quote.)

I just commented on both, to the effect that dogs should not be bred in such a way that they can't breathe, feed, or cool themselves normally. I saw a few other comments to the same effect. I've noticed other videos on YouTube that likewise have a strong critical contingent to contrast the gaga-goers who think pathology is cute.

I've seen so many people claiming these meatmouth pei are the "correct" type and they will go out of their way to talk about how "mixed" the bonemouth pei are, despite them being traditional and much closer to the Tang dogs they descended from. People wear blinders because they don't want to think what they love is somehow "bad". Shame. These poor puppies will not grow out of this.

Hi Anon 7:01, not on holiday, but mourning the passing of my 15 year old rescued dalmation, Totty. She is much loved and missed more than I can honestly express. Very painful and when I read that Tickle had passed too, it was all a bit raw because her obituary was just so beautiful and relevant. Georgina.

We get it here as well, think its a job lot type programme filler Too Cute. The commentary is beyond silly. The female looks like she has skin problems and infection between her folds. Ahhh its all so sad. I feel for these poor animals I honestly do.

That one Shar-pei puppy walked straight into the wall because it couldn't see. Commentator "Shar-peis have less peripheral vision than other dogs" that's it. Like it's the most normal thing in the world not to be able to see by design.

Its a Shar-pei of course they are meant to be like that. What do you want rolls of skin and vision???? ):

The meat mouth vs bone mouth argument isn't new, the same was said of Saint Bernards decades ago, but it was called wet mouth vs dry mouth. Dry mouth was the original, wet mouth sprang up and became the norm. Newfoundland dogs often have wet mouth too. Surgery on the lower lips is said to help.

It isn't exactly the same as bone mouth vs meat mouth - which is much more extreme, but the arguments run about the same, with one side saying theirs is the correct type, and the other side saying that both types are equally fine. And few show breeders asking if the dogs feel good with loose skin and sagging eyelids. Not one would-be pet owner has ever said to me "I want a dog that slings slobber all over the house" or "I want a puppy who will get SM", or "I want a dog with hip dysplasia", but breeders keep cranking them out. Things that might seem funny on a video, often aren't so funny to live with. Snoring which keeps you awake at night isn't fun or funny. People want a dog that is quiet at night, so that everyone can get their sleep.

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About Me

I grew up with pedigree dogs - English Setters, Great Danes, Labradors and, most recently, Flatcoated Retrievers. Today, I share my home with an assortment of dogs, purebred and mutts. In 2008, I directed Pedigree Dogs Exposed, a BBC documentary which uncovered the extent of health and welfare problems in pedigree dogs. The film has now been shown in more than 20 countries. Campaigning for improved purebred dog health is now a great passion - one fuelled by the fear that those who currently view themselves as the guardians of pedigree dogs are, often unwittingly, the agents of their demise.
My mission, then, is to continue to highlight where things have gone wrong and to encourage breeders and Kennel Clubs to embrace reform - particularly when it comes to harmful phenotypes and inbreeding.